The Message of the Cross Is Where It's At

In one paragraph

This was a fifth-Sunday all-praise service at First B, built around a review of what Pastor Ray has been teaching through 1 Corinthians since July. Between songs, a baptism, and a new-member covenant ceremony, Pastor Ray traced the single thread he said runs through the whole letter: the message of the cross. Pastor Ray opened by noting that Paul begins both his letter to the Thessalonians and his...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 1:18 cited as Paul's thesis sentence: the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God
2. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 quoted listing the unrighteous who will not inherit the kingdom of God, followed by 'and such were some of you but you were washed, sanctified, justified'
3. 1 Corinthians 10:31 quoted as 'whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God'
4. Romans 15:13 read during the Advent candle lighting: 'may the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit'
5. Colossians 3:12-16 read as a benediction: 'clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience'

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray said that Paul opened both his letter to the Thessalonians and his letter to the Corinthians with 'grace to you and peace,' even though the Corinthian church was full of divisions and sin. Why do you think Paul started from that same place of grace with a church that was in such bad shape, and what does that tell us about how we should approach people in our own lives?
2. Pastor Ray described the church as a place where people who are spiritually ill go to get well, and said we should not expect people of the world to act as if they know Christ. How does that change the way you think about who belongs in a church, and what it should feel like to walk through the doors here?
3. Paul wrote 'such were some of you' in the past tense, pointing back to what the Corinthians used to be before they were washed, sanctified, and justified. What is significant about that past tense, and how does remembering your own 'such were some of you' shape the way you treat people who are still living in that old way?
4. Pastor Ray said 'who you love is more important than what you know,' and he connected it to Paul becoming all things to all men in hopes of winning some. Where do you find the tension between holding to sound theology and being willing to go where people are, and how do you try to live in that tension?
5. Pastor Ray mentioned that J. S. Bach wrote 'JJ,' meaning Jesus help, at the beginning of each piece before writing 'Soli Deo Gloria' at the end. He connected that to the message of the cross being the only starting point for anything we do. What would it look like practically for you to begin your week, your work, or your relationships from that same starting point?